Kicking Sawdust
by Sorepaws
Summary: AU-Written by Gauzepaws and Soricha...When your greatest fear is falling...what happens when that's all you can do?
1. Chapter 1

Title: Kicking Sawdust

Author: Sorepaws (Soricha & Gauzepaws)

Pairing: Callie/Arizona

Rating: NC-17

Summary: AU - Sorepaws Production Presents in Technicolour "Kicking Sawdust", written by Gauzepaws and Soricha. It has Lions, Tigers and Bears (Okay, just the Lion) It is filled with thrills from up high and spills from, eh, up high. Starring Calliope Torres and Arizona Robbins, coming to screens near you right now!

Disclaimer: All television shows, books, movies, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work and the characters, events, and settings thereof are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual

**Chapter 1**

Arizona swung back and forth cutting through the still air of the big top, usually this sensation would be accompanied by adrenaline pumping through her system, every sinew and nerve in her body alert as her muscles twisted and pulled her in familiar routines. However now…now it felt like everything in Arizona's life, as though she was experiencing in through a filter. The sights and colours around the show - sights that those not involved with the circus would often regard as garish - used to make her stomach flip with excitement, however that was before. She repositioned her feet on the fly bar, smiling broadly as she waved to the crowd below; she could hear the sound of voices beneath her. When did that start? she thought, when did the audience become more interested to hooking themselves popcorn or a corn dog instead of watching her. There was a time when she could have heard a pin drop as she moved back and forth. She gripped the side ropes and lifted her body up, pointing her toes to maintain her line. Gripping the ropes she rotated until she held herself upside down, her body making automatic adjustments to hold her in place, she looked down catching sight of her safetyman holding the rope attached to the trapeze she would swing to. She dropped her legs down and brought her body back to a sitting position in mid air, her abdominal muscles working hard to keep her legs straight out in front of her. She was about to perform a few more tricks on the static bar when she heard the loud booming voice of the ringmaster Mark Sloan below her "Would John Robinson please come to the rear entrance". Arizona was thankful that although at a lower height than she previously would have flown at, she was still sufficiently high enough that the audience could not see the irritation in her face at the standard code used in the circus to curtail an act. She clenched her jaw in anger and spun herself back upside down, immediately falling into the pattern that would signal her final trick. The drum roll sounded from the band and Arizona was aware of the spotlight performing a ballyhoo across the audience, the figure of eight motion illuminating the faces of the spectator's for a split second before they were plunged back into the darkness. She widened her legs and twisted the ropes around her them to secure her in position, she released her grip on the ropes and flexed her leg muscles to allow her body to drop down, the ropes chaffed against the silk fleshings on her legs, at least that sensation reminded her that she was here and alive. There was no gasps of relief from the crowd when she fell into her final position, her ankles hooked around the ropes as her body hung limply beneath, she half heartedly waved her fingertips towards the darkened seated area. She moved her arms building up momentum with her body, increasing the swings movement to and fro until she reached the peak and momentarily felt the liberation of weightlessness. She released her ankles from their hold and allowed her body to fly through the air, her sight and hearing blurring as her body spun in rotation towards the second trapeze, as always the split second before she reached her destination her senses kicked back in. She saw the bar in front of her almost in slow motion and reached out for it, her hands thumped against the metal, small puffs of chalk came from her hands. She lifted her legs up and brought her knees over the bar, using the momentum of the swing to help her curl up and pull back into a sitting position. She perched on the bar, her toes pointing almost painfully and waved enthusiastically to the crowd, their lack luster applause for her display pounded mockingly in her ears. "Ladies and Gentleman…please show your appreciation for the amazing Soaring Arizona Robbins" the applause increased slightly at Mark's urging however she was relieved when the shanty switched the spot light onto one of the side rings where one of the clowns was performing during the small break between the main acts. She finally allowed the smile to drop from her face and crossed her hands in front of her chest and pushed off of the trapeze to fall to the waiting net below. She landed on her backside on the net and bounced up to a standing position, still grateful that one of the clowns now captured the audience's attention so that they did not have to witness her bounding across the net to make her dismount. Arizona knelt down and gripped the edge of the netting, she fell forward, and tumbled out of the net, she felt strong arms around her waist helping her to the ground. She gave a small smile, thanked the member of the crew for their assistance, and almost broke into a run to get out of the ring. She exited the tent and a chill went through her as the night air hit the sweat beading on her body, her chest heaved with the effort of breathing.

"You okay?" A concerned voice asked as Arizona leaned over to catch her breath.

"I'm fine" she replied tersely, glancing up at the red haired woman who had enquired. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard "I'm sorry Addison" she added, her tone softening "I'm okay really"

Addison smiled and nodded "Okay then" Addison watched as Arizona left the pad area where the performers gathered immediately before they entered the ring. The petite trapeze artist was pulling at the pins that held her blonde locks into a neat bun during her act.

"Showtime Addison" a male voice intoned.

"Right…let's do this" Addison smiled and straightening her back strode towards the open flap of the tent.

Arizona walked disconsolately back towards her living quarters, she knew that she should stay to get ready for the finale at the dressing area. But she couldn't breath and needed to get some space away from the stifling atmosphere of the big top. She wrenched the last of the pins out of her hair and rubbed the pads of her fingertips through her curls, a soft moan left her lips at the relief of having her hair loose again. She closed her eyes as she heard collective gasps from the big top; Addison had started her show, the spot that Arizona had once graced. The much coveted last spot on the bill. She fought back the tears as the night was punctuated by loud applause and cheers following the successful execution of a trick.

Stepping up into her wagon, she tossed the pins that had tamed her hair onto the small dressing table and flopped down onto the stool. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, the tiredness, and sadness still visible to her through the layers of makeup she wore to compete with the harsh glare of the spotlights. She glanced up to her right and gave a soft mirthless laugh at the poster attached to the wall, an illustrated version of her face looked back down at her, the drawn version looked younger, lighter…looked happy. Beside her was a man with similar features to her own "He cut me short Tim" Arizona said to the poster "Can you believe that?" She shook her head disbelievingly "He cut _me_ short!" she reached a finger up and traced it across the jaw line of the smiling man "Missed you out there tonight" she said sadly, sighing at the words that were repeated religiously twice a day after every show. "I should get changed for the big send off" she slapped her thighs and stood up, twisting to pull at the zipper of her leotard.

Once redressed she had to sprint across the open grass to get back to the pad in time for the final parade, squeezing into her position on the line up just before they set off waving into the ring. She heard Mark yell her name and she waved at the applause, the crowd seemingly more appreciative now than when she completed her routine. They waved and smiled until Mark announced to the crowd "All over." There was a shared moan of disappointment from the audience. Who for one night had become enthralled with this traveling show, with the feats of the performers, the animals that some may have only seen in photos previously and the taste of the cotton candy and toffee apples. The roustabouts were waiting in the darkness along the periphery of the tent, their broad tanned arms crossed across their chests as they waited for the crowd to disperse so they could start the backbreaking task of bringing the big top down and packing it for their journey to the next town.

Arizona walked in the opposite direction of the other performers, who were hurrying towards the cook tent where dinner would be served; a red flag flew from the top of the cookhouse indicating that it was now open for all circus personnel. She didn't feel hungry or like socialising with them tonight, instead she walked back to her wagon and changed into her civilian clothes. She pulled on calf length soft leather boots over the top of her cream jodhpurs, her white shirt tucked neatly into the waistband. Standing she gave a cursory glance in the mirror before leaving her wagon to watch the crew bring down the tent. In a short time the outfit was dismantled, each piece systematically packed to ease its rebuild the following morning. She heard the sound of the boss canvasman shouting to "let her go" and watched in awe as the great structure that she had been performing in only hours before, floated towards the ground. The canvas ballooned as trapped air rippled though it causing it to billow and roll like the ocean; finally, the canvas fell to the ground with a loud crack. Arizona turned to walk back towards the wagons, having had her fill of the night and needing to be in her wagon before curfew, the last thing she needed was a fine for being out after hours. She stopped as Mark stood in front of her gripping his black top hat, his red jacket upon close inspection looked slightly threadbare in certain areas The small monkey that accompanied him everywhere sat on his shoulder still dressed in her ringmaster costume, the animal absently picked at Mark's hair as he spoke "I'm sorry Arizona"

Arizona held up her hand "It's okay, I know it wasn't you…I'll speak to him in the morning" she replied, referring to Derek Shepherd the owner of the circus and ultimately the one who called the shots She moved to pass Mark and patted his arm "It's no big deal" she lied.

Mark craned his head over his shoulder to watch Arizona as she walked slowly back towards the wagon "I wish we both believed that" he murmured to the monkey before continuing his journey towards his wagon.

The following morning Arizona woke up yawning and stretching out her tired limbs, her joints popping in protest. She looked out of the window of her wagon across their new abode. Each morning was always a new town, a new ground as the circus traveled overnight to its new location. Regardless of the town or season, Arizona expected to see the same sights from her window such was the organisation of the small traveling town. The layout of the wagons and tents followed a strict routine that only varied dependent on the size of location it was housed in. She could see clearly the bright painted wagon of Addison. An image on the side of the wagon portrayed the striking red haired woman balancing on a tight rope. The smell of breakfast was wafting through the wagons from the cookhouse and Arizona quickly dressed eager to take her place with the other couple of hundred people involved in keeping Shepherd's Circus on the road.

She entered the cook tent and wound her way in line to grab some nourishment, her eyes wandered around the large tent known to all as the camp. Long tables stretched out in military like lines, the planks of wood that made up the tables and benches rested on carved horses each with different features. Arizona gathered her breakfast and walked towards the tables set aside for the performers, each table contained the different rank and file of the circus - from the swarthy workmen, to the musicians, to the side show attractions - all sat within their social group chatting animatedly. The sound of the Beatles the band from England that the US had gone mad about, could be heard singing about a long and winding road over the small radio placed on the musician's table. She spotted Derek deep in conversation with Richard Webber the man responsible for the day-to-day running of the circus known to all as simply 'The Chief'. She passed by Alex Karev, the main circus clown, who was talking to the twenty four hour man and caught the odd word of the conversation as she brushed passed.

"Looks like the rain will stay off" Arizona remarked taking her seat beside the Grey sisters. The two acrobats looked up from their food and nodded an acknowledgement.

"Makes doing flip flaps during the march less dangerous" Meredith, the elder of the two sisters remarked sipping her coffee.

"Do we know where we are?" Arizona asked, poking a fork into one of the thick sausages on her plate.

"No idea" the younger Grey sister, Lexie replied still chewing on her bacon "Some Mid West town" she said speculatively.

Arizona nodded and focused on her breakfast "So it's official" she looked up as Alex sat down and inwardly grimaced. The dour man was the antipathy of the fun jovial character he portrayed during the show, his proclamations of doom more often than not came to nothing; however, that didn't stop him speculating.

"What's official?" Meredith asked, her eyes flashing an apology to the others for taking the bait, experience telling her we would have continued regardless of any input from anyone else.

"The seats were half empty last night, and I was just speaking to Stark and sales aren't much better here either," Alex said breathlessly. Arizona looked over towards Phil Stark; the small man had now joined Derek and the Chief at their table. She watched as the men frowned and rubbed their faces as Stark set out the ticket sales he had generated. The twenty-four hour man as he was known to the circus traveled ahead of them promoting the show and arranging the feed and supplies for the animals and circus personnel. He could usually be spotted around camp until after breakfast when he would set off to their next stop. Arizona realized she had stopped listening to Karev; she blinked slowly and tried to pick up the pieces of the conversation.

"So what you think will happen?" Lexie asked her tone full of trepidation.

"Only one thing they can do" Alex surmised, biting a chunk of bacon in much the same manner that Arizona had seen one of Bailey's lions devour a rib steak "Bring in new acts….fresh blood" he leaned in closer taking with his mouth full "None of us are safe"

"Oh God…you are so full of it"

Arizona turned sharply towards the derisive voice, she hadn't even heard Cristina Yang sit down beside them "This will be the same as it always is with you funny man…the biggest pile of elephant dung"

Alex shrugged "Just you wait, and then we'll see who is right"

"Riiiiight" Cristina smirked "Just like the time that you told everyone they were going to put a water tank in one of the rings for a mobile Sea World." Meredith let out an audible snort at the jibe and Alex scowled at her. "You know it's a good job you paint that smile of yours on, cause I've yet to see a real one crack your face" the petite Asian woman added raising her eyebrows.

"Fire breathing bitch" Alex muttered under his breath. There was a moment of silence a the table until Alex piped back up "I also heard they're bringing the freaks back"

"No they're not" Meredith stated emphatically as the table let out a collective gasp at Alex's words "They're not bringing them back" she shook her head and frowned, ignoring her sisters inquisitive look.

Alex leaned forward resting his elbows on the table "How do you explain them talking about the worlds tallest and shortest men then?" he said with a smug look on his face.

"Maybe they've got a clown act that doesn't consist of just falling down on their ass" Cristina deadpanned, trying not to smirk at the look of horror on Karev's face.

Tired of the gossip Arizona drained her coffee "Well as interesting as this installment of the Toby News is, I'm going to rehearse" she picked up her plate and cup and climbed out of the bench to escape. She stacked her dirty dishes with the rest and grabbed a couple of apples from a large bowl, slipping them into the pockets of her loose fitting cardigan. She was out of earshot so didn't hear Meredith lean forward and add in a hushed tone "They are bringing in a horse act though" the tables occupants watched the blonde smile at late arrivals to breakfast as she waited until they passed before she exited.

"Does she know?" Cristina asked as Arizona slipped out into the warm morning sun.

Meredith shook her head quickly, scared that she had already shared too much.

Walking across the dusty ground towards the tent Arizona managed to snag her ground man to tell them they were going to rehearse, then took a detour towards her morning indulgence "Hey Belle" she smiled, her eyes full of warmth as she waited on the usual response. She didn't have to wait long before a long grey trunk snaked around her waist; she leaned into the embrace and looked up into the soulful eyes of the circus elephant. She could feel the snout start to burrow inquisitively into the pockets of her cardigan "If I didn't know better, I'd think you only want me for one thing" she laughed digging out the fruit from her pocket and tossing it into the elephants waiting mouth. She patted the thick skin of Belle's trunk one last time before turning towards the big top "See you tomorrow" she called over her shoulder, waving towards April the trainer as she approached with a bucket and sweeping brush for Belle's morning bath.

"Miss Robbins" Her grounds man greeted her as slipped her feet out of the wooden clogs used by the performers to protect their performance footwear from the dust and mud of the show ground. She pulled off her cardigan to reveal her black practice leotard.

"Morning Fred" she smiled covering her hands and feet in chalk "Not a long one today, just want to iron out some kinks from last night" Fred nodded and fixed the practice harness around her waist.

"What ever you need Miss Robbins" he grinned and stepped back to allow Arizona to scale the rope up to her platform. Fred gripped the rope which allowed him to counter balance Arizona's weight should she fall and nodded to her. Arizona looked down from the platform and waved down before unhooking the trapeze, she threw herself off the platform using her body to increase the swing before releasing the bar and spinning around quickly to catch the bar for its return swing. She went through her well-worn practice routine, which included twists and turns that she had been performing since childhood with one very apparent missing ingredient in Arizona's mind. She no longer heard her actions being mirrored on the opposite trapeze by Timothy. She had been up for around twenty minutes and was about to swing from one trapeze to the other, when the back door of the tent -where acts appeared from - burst open. The sound of thunderous hooves filled the arena startling Arizona and causing her to lose her grip; she felt her body fall through the air before Fred took the slack, leaving her dangling in mid air. "What the hell!" she yelled at the stable hand that had entered the side ring with the horses. The young man paid her no heed as he continued to yell and crack a whip at the three black stallions now cantering around the rink. Arizona's arms and legs waved in fury "Fred let me down" she roared. Fred hesitated, worrying about the young boy's safety; however, as he spotted Arizona's anger turn towards him he slowly lowered her to the ground.

She stood impatiently waiting in the centre of the main ring until Fred unhooked her, then stomped over towards the smaller side ring. Arizona stood on the curb surrounding the ring waiting for a safe gap to appear between the now galloping horses to allow her to jump into the ring. Finally, a space appeared and she leapt into the ring and grabbed the collar of the startled stable hand "What the hell do you think you are doing…and who the hell are you?" she demanded.

"PARADA!"

The noise from the horses hooves abated as they immediately came to a standstill at the command, their breath blowing heavily through their nostrils, sweat starting to glisten on their necks "I'd appreciate if you'd let my assistant go" Arizona turned to the commanding voice that had just halted the horses. A tall dark haired woman dressed in shiny black riding boots and dark jodhpurs contrasting sharply with her crisp white collared T-shirt, hopped gracefully off the curb and into the ring, a small cloud of dust puffing up at her feet, marring the shine of her boots. Arizona released her grip of the bewildered boy and looked at the woman now walking confidently towards her, her shoulder length black hair fell in waves around her head and matched the manes of the three stallions now stamping impatiently at the sawdust.

"You can't just burst into the tent without checking who else might be rehearsing" Arizona ranted, she curled her toes in her soft practice pumps and pulled herself up to her maximum height, feeling slightly disadvantaged by the height difference between her and the other woman.

"We were told it was empty" the woman replied evenly, never taking her dark brown eyes from the smaller woman "We were misinformed and I apologise" she said smoothly trying to dampen the other woman's visible anger.

Arizona detected a slight trace of a South American accent in the other woman's voice "Your boy there could have caused an accident"

"But he didn't"

Gritting her teeth in fury Arizona seethed "He could have"

"But he didn't" the woman repeated, emphasising each word before holding her hands up in surrender. "We could go like this for days" she smiled briefly before looking serious "I have apologised for interrupting your practice, you should accept the apology and we can forget that we met under such unfortunate circumstances." she jerked her head up towards the stable boy and motioned with her hands, her fingers creating intricate patterns in the air. Arizona watched at a loss as the boy gestured back before moving to round up the horses. "He's deaf" the dark haired woman explained, seeing the confused look on the other woman's face "Which is why he didn't respond while you yelled at him" she added with a hint of annoyance in her tone "So are you willing to accept my apology?" she challenged.

The adrenaline rush caused by the incident was starting to leave Arizona, however, her heart rate inexplicably had not returned to its normal steady rhythm. "Keep your animals and your help under control," she said quietly, brushing past the taller woman to get out of the ring. "And keep them the hell away from me" she added, and then thumped the canvas doors out of her way to exit the tent.

"Well that should be an interesting act, trapeze with a pole rammed up her ass" the dark haired woman mused aloud.

As Arizona strode across the show ground she spotted a bill poster for the circus attached to one of the tall wooden telegraph poles that were scattered around the ground, curiously she walked over to it, as it appeared different from the usual posters. The rage she had felt as the horses had appeared in the ring and their pompous trainer's half-assed excuse for an apology returned. The poster included a drawn likeness of the woman she had just been speaking to, the exotic looking woman stood with her hands aloft and her feet planted on the backs of two black horses. The smile that Arizona had seen fleetingly was captured in the poster although brighter than the one Arizona had witnessed. "Callie Torres bareback rider" she read aloud, at least now she had a name to put to the face. Arizona's eyes raked over the poster's composition; at the forefront was the familiar image of Addison, the wirewalker taking her rightful spot on the advertisement as the headline act. The trapeze artist frowned unable to locate her image on the poster, her eyes widened in disbelief as finally she spotted her name at the top of the list of other performers including the Grey Sisters and Cristina. Horrified that she had been demoted on the bill Arizona tore the poster from the post and stalked off in search of Derek.

She stormed across the lot, not caring that her white trapeze pumps were being coated in dust. She spotted Derek talking to Meredith, when the acrobat saw the determined look on Arizona's face she tapped Derek's forearm and made a hasty retreat, leaving him to face Arizona on his own. "What the hell is this?" Arizona yelled, thumping the crumpled poster against Derek's chest. The dark haired man automatically put his hand onto his chest and held the poster where Arizona had indelicately put it.

"This is me trying to save this circus" Derek replied calmly.

Arizona's eyebrows raised "You couldn't even tell me that you were bringing in a horse act" her voice quiet with anger "After all I've done, you couldn't tell me that….never mind that you're demoting me"

Derek huffed, and rubbed his eyes already weary of the conversation "And what exactly is it that you've done Arizona?" He looked up at the sky as if searching for words "Other than perform an act so tame that a child could do your tricks" he winced slightly as he saw hurt flash across Arizona's face "We're dying Arizona….we need to bring people in to see the show." Deciding he'd had enough of explaining his decisions he thrust the poster back at Arizona "So unless you buck up your act and start being the performer you used to be, Callie and her horses are above you on the bill." The owner turned to leave but hesitated and turned back "If you don't like it Arizona, you can leave, no ones holding a gun to your head to perform here, but good luck trying to get a spot in another circus"

She watched as Derek walked away. Her arms fell listlessly to her sides, the now crumpled poster dangled from her fingers. At that point Arizona felt more alone than she'd ever felt in her life before.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Thank you for reading and to those that commented, this is our first time co-writing so it's nice to know that people enjoy the output as much as we enjoy tossing ideas around and entertaining each other - Gauzepaws & Soricha

Arizona's prediction about the weather proved correct, she winced looking up towards the sky. The bright blue sky was peppered with the odd white cloud so that it almost looked as though a child had drawn it; the sun beat down on the participants of the Shepard's Circus parade. Arizona patted the top of her head checking to see how hot it felt and blew out of the side of her mouth, the action having no effect on her bangs, which were lacquered in place. She was always cautious when they marched in heat after a rather unfortunate incident which had her passing out and falling from the small trapeze swing that she sat on to wave to the gathered crowds. That in itself would have been bad enough, however the fact that one of Belle's deposits on the road had broken her fall added no small amount of insult to what turned out to be a substantial injury that kept her from performing for two weeks.

The float that her trapeze was mounted on surged forward as the parade started down the main street of the town that they'd arrived in during the early hours of the morning. Arizona blinked several times and plastered on her show face, ready to wave and perform some small tricks to entice the people of the town to part with their hard-earned cash and come see the show. The band struck up a crowd-pleasing number and Arizona looked out across the parade from her vantage point. She could see the cage with Bailey's lions in pacing back and forth, occasionally shocking the crowd as they roared when prompted by the crack of the small black woman's whip against the ground. Belle was out at the front of the parade with a large fabric sign advertising the circus draped around over her back, April sat behind Belle's head waving both hands in the air. Alex and the other clowns were already starting to work the gathered people, bringing them into their routines, squirting them with water or handing out balloons to the kids. Arizona stood up onto her trapeze and held on with one hand while smiling and waving to the kids, she had one leg bent slightly to show off her long lithe legs in a stance that was designed to attract the male members of the audience. If the kids didn't want to come see the lions and clowns then perhaps the husbands could be persuaded to come see the girls in skimpy outfits. She heard clapping as down either side of her float the Grey sisters appeared back flipping in perfect synchronization. Mark's voice could be heard booming out the shows line up through a megaphone as he walked, his small monkey tipping her top hat towards the crowds.

Deciding now was the time to do a little performance Arizona gripped the side ropes then spun herself upside down. She stayed like that for a few moments-ignoring the age old superstition of never looking back on a parade - to take the opportunity while upside down to view the members of the parade behind her. She could hear the gasps from the crowd as Cristina plunged lit torches coated in kerosene into her mouth to extinguish them. Owen the circus strongman was walking along the line of spectators and offering each man the opportunity to punch his stomach as hard as they could. However, Arizona's attention was drawn immediately to two black horses a couple of spots back from her float, from her unusual vantage point Arizona observed as Callie dressed in a midnight blue leotard adorned with silver stars stood up on the back of one of the stallions.

Callie stood balancing on the broad back of Orpheus her favourite horse, she looked ahead and saw two legs in the air. She quirked her eyebrows in surprise then let her eyes follow down the line of the shapely legs, she observed the gold sequined leotard that fit snugly to the athletic frame currently suspended upside down on the trapeze. Finally her brown eyes settled on blue eyes regarding her with an expression that Callie was unable to read fully, before she could get a prolonged look the eyes had disappeared as their owner spun around and was the right way up again. Callie's eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Arizona wave to the crowd knowing that the woman would not flout the superstition further by turning around again. Shouts from the sides roused her from her study of the infuriating trapeze artist that she had bucked horns with earlier in the day. Callie allowed herself to fall down to site astride Orpheus, she looked down towards where Seth her stable boy jogged alongside, he moved his fingers quickly asking if she was okay, she realized that she had been so wrapped up in looking at Arizona that her performance in the parade so far had been lackluster. She replied quickly that she was fine and shook any further thoughts of the blonde woman up ahead from her mind. She gripped the leather strapping around Orpheus's body and used it to hold her body steady as she balanced upside down at his side.

They returned to the circus ground following the march and immediately set to work to finish the work on the big top and stalls before the come in when the paying public officially entered. Already some Lot Lice had been on the ground all day watching the set up and generally getting in the way of the roustabouts as they built the big top. The Chief had already chased some kids out of the back yard where the props, animals, and housing wagons were parked.

Callie heard unfamiliar voices shouting familiar instructions while the tents tethers were checked and the pre show rag out was performed, making sure that the ropes were tightly staked. She looked up from her work brushing down Orpheus following his outing on the parade. Apollo still wearing his performance harness stood patiently waiting on his turn for Callie's attention, his nose buried in a bucket of cool water. The brief excursion wasn't enough to work up a sweat, however the rosin that coated the backs of the horses to make their coat sticky for Callie to perform on, had to be removed and replaced for the matinee performance. The dust from Orpheus' coat danced in the sunlight as Callie flicked the brush at the end of each stroke along the horse's body. She felt a tap on her back and a hand reach for the brush and take it from her. She smiled at Seth who shot her a look of annoyance before telling her off for taking his job. She placed her fingers against her lips then moved her hand away from her face to gesture thank you to Seth.

"You should go find the flyer and apologise properly" Seth gestured. Callie screwed her face up and Seth clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth in annoyance "We don't need enemies on our first day" he added both signing and unusually for Seth speaking the words aloud letting Callie know how strongly her felt about it. She signed OK rolling her eyes as she did so and ignoring the satisfied grin on Seth's face. She grabbed her thin cardigan from over the small mounting block they used, and pulled it on to cover her show costume while she wandered around the back yard in search of the trapeze artist.

She moved out of the way of the roustabouts as they carried sections of blues, the general admission seats into the big top, her eyes scanning the back yard for a sight of the blonde woman. She ran over possible ways to apologise in her head, each one was dismissed with a small frown as she strode through the lot. She stopped as she spotted Arizona, standing with her back to her speaking with April the elephant trainer, the imposing figure of Belle the elephant was behind them, her trunk nuzzling against Arizona's hair earning guffaws of laughter from both women. Callie took a deep breath and decided it was now or never. As she stepped forward to make her way across the relative peacefulness of the pre matinee time was shattered and loud shouts came from where Callie had just walked from. Her eyes widened in horror as she turned to see Apollo come thundering towards her, his eyes wide in fear and nostrils flaring. There was a group of men including Seth in pursuit of the stampeding horse as he ran towards the sideshows. The ropes that supported the tented structures snapped and stakes sprung out of the ground as the horse barreled through them. Callie yelled at the horse to stop, however he was in too much of a state to listen-even to his beloved trainer. It wasn't until he veered off that Callie spotted the reason for his panic, bouncing up and down on his back holding on for dear life to his thick black mane was the small monkey that was usually seen on the ringmasters shoulder. As the horse passed by one of the food stalls, the monkey leapt and landed onto the top of the concession stand, a look of relief on its human like features. She sped off after Apollo trying to reach the horse before he injured himself, she froze in panic as a truck edged out in front of him causing him to skid to a halt and rise up onto his hind legs. He neighed loudly kicking his front legs towards the truck. He twisted his body in mid air and landed hard back down on the ground then sped back in the direction he had come.

Arizona and April along with the other casual observers around the lot moved to where Callie had been standing, to watch the drama unfold. The blonde woman felt her body tense at the scene in front of her. The horse that had been galloping out of the lot was now coming rapidly back towards them, she winced as Jennings one of the stall men stepped out and hit the running horse with a long stick, the action barely causing the horse to miss a step.

Callie felt anger rise in her as a tall bald man stepped out from between the tents and swung a long stick at Apollo, a loud crack sounding as it connected with the horse's hindquarters causing the frightened horse to pick its pace up. She moved to the side as Apollo neared, thankful that Seth hadn't removed his show harness yet. She reached out and grabbed the thick leather as Apollo drew level with her, she had performed this in the ring with her horses hundreds of time before, but for the first time Callie was terrified. She felt the pull on her shoulder and immediately bounced to create the required lift to give her enough height to mount Apollo's back. She landed onto the horse with a soft thump and gripped him with her legs. Feeling her thighs tighten against his sides Apollo started to calm down until Callie called him gently to a halt, immediately the horse stopped, his breath puffing heavily from his nostrils. She pulled him around and walked him back towards the man with the stick. She stopped beside the now nervous looking man and shot him a look of pure hatred "If you so much as look in the direction of one of my horses again, I will personally take that stick and show you what it's like to be beaten….Do. You. Understand?" she asked through gritted teeth. Satisfied that she had made her point she kicked her heels against Apollo's sides to walk him back towards their wagons. As she walked Apollo slowly past those that had gathered to watch she noticed the blue eyes that had been watching her during the parade shoot her a look of utter disgust before Arizona spun on her heel and weaved her way through the gathered crowd.

Callie stood dressed back in her customary T shirt and black jodhpurs, Seth stood silently at her side as they both watched the matinee performance of Shepherd's Circus. She had managed to negotiate with Derek an evening's start following Apollo's impromptu performance earlier. Their delayed entry allowed her to observe the company that she had joined. The first half of the show focused primarily on the lion's and tigers, large cage panels that could be dismantled in minutes surrounded the ring to protect the audience from the wild animals. Callie smiled as the Bailey cracked her whip on the sawdust of the ring and the lion hopped onto its stand and patiently waited for its next instruction.

After the excitement had calmed down and the horses were safely stowed in their trailers, Callie had personally apologised to all of the stallholders who had been impacted by Apollo's rampage. Feeling low that her introduction to her new work family hadn't gone as well as she had hoped, Callie found herself wandering back into the yard and had come across Bailey as she fed the big cats meat so that they were fed before their act. She had stood unobserved reading the slogan across emblazoned across Bailey's cages 'Direct from Africa, the amazing Miranda and her big cats" The small woman finished feeding the animals and cooed softly into the cage before she turned around and looked startled at the tall dark haired woman watching her.

"Hi, I'm Callie…I'm new here" Callie said smiling, enunciating clearly and slowly "Where about in Africa are you from?"

The small woman let out a deep chuckle and shook her head "Baltimore…and I know who you are…damn it the whole state probably knows who you are…did you really threaten to dissect Jennings with that stick?" Miranda noted the look of surprise on the other woman's face as her eyes shot back to the writing. "Don't pay that no heed, I've never been to Africa and neither have my lions for that matter and the tigers sure as hell didn't come from India, I got them while they were cubs from an outfit in Florida." She picked up her now empty food bucket and walked up to Callie "Miranda Bailey, but most people just call me Bailey"

"Nice to meet you Bailey" Callie smiled "And no it wasn't a dissection that I threatened him with"

Bailey snorted loudly "You should have…pig of a man…Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go get some meat for those tigers to make sure they don't decide to chew on me this afternoon" the woman disappeared back towards the feed truck to refill her bucket. Callie watched her disappear, then turned back to look at the truck and laughed.

"Greatest show on earth indeed" Callie said to herself "All smoke, mirrors and sequins"

Callie watched as Bailey completed her act, the woman seems attuned to her animals in the same way Callie was with her horses, although Callie didn't face the prospect of being eaten by her horses if she got it wrong. The lions and tigers were ushered out of the ring and back into their waiting cages. The band started to play a happy tune as the clowns appeared to distract the audience from the cages being taken down. She heard Seth laugh beside her as the clowns pretended to throw buckets of water across the audience, dousing them instead with bits of paper. She smiled, regardless of how many circuses she and Seth had joined the boy was always amused by the clowns' and she didn't doubt that if it wasn't for her he would probably be training for that act right now. She nudged his shoulders and he drew his eyes reluctantly away from the act "How do they rate?" she asked, speaking the words aloud as well as signing.

Seth grinned and held up seven fingers then signed his response "The small one's timing was off"

"Perfectionist" she teased. Seth shrugged a smile still on his face as he returned his attention to the clowns.

Callie allowed her mind to drift to the meeting this morning with the trapeze act, she'd been furious when she'd spotted the woman manhandling Seth and probably hadn't dealt with the situation in the most tactful manner, however she was insanely protective of Seth and didn't really see what the big deal had been. She recalled the blue eyes that watched her briefly during the parade and the look they had given her after the incident with Apollo, she felt a shiver go through her body. Seth felt her movement and looked round.

"Are you cold?" he asked, his face full of concern "I could go get your sweater?" he motioned.

"I'm fine, someone walking over my grave" she smiled tucking her hands back into her pocket after she signed.

"It's probably the flyer dancing on it" Seth replied a mischievous look on his face. Callie laughed and looked out towards the main ring where April was currently performing with Belle. The elephant was sitting on a podium with its front legs in the air. Seth tapped Callie's forearm "She's good" he said pointing towards the ring, he tapped again to bring Callie's attention back to him "And it looks well cared for" Callie smiled and put her arm around Seth's neck bringing him into an embrace. They had already left two circuses when Seth had found they mistreated their animals. For them it was a deal breaker and from what Callie had heard Shepherd's had a good reputation in the business for not harming the animals in order to get them to perform, however after the altercation with Jennings she was wary of putting too much faith in hearsay. Both she and Seth treated their horses Orpheus, Adonis, and Apollo as if they were family, tending their every need.

The first act ended and Callie and Seth left the big top to wander around the sideshows while the top was set for the second act. They had meandered through the various games and stalls until Callie found herself wandering back towards the performer's entrance of the big top while picking strands of pink cotton candy from a stick. She watched as Arizona made her way across the ground with the line walker Addison, now dressed in a red sequined outfit her blonde hair loose around her shoulders. She was laughing at something the taller woman said her blue eyes creased in mirth and deep dimples appeared on her cheeks. For the first time Callie saw life radiate from the woman albeit briefly as the smile froze and disappeared as she spotted Callie. Arizona shook her head then turned to concentrate on Addison again, leaving Callie standing immobile with one hand hovering in mid air with a strip of candy in her grasp on its way to her mouth.

Arizona stood in the pad area waiting for Mark to announce her. She had felt an overwhelming state of relief when Cristina told her that she'd heard that they wouldn't be performing during the matinee, however seeing the horse woman standing out on the ground only reminded her that it was simply a stay of execution and the act would be on the bill that evening. She heard applause and assuming that it was her cue to enter, she stepped right foot first into the ring. Her loose interpretation of the circus rule of looking back during the parade was the only circus superstition she occasionally disobeyed, she had experienced enough bad luck and didn't need to encourage further misfortune to visit her by thumbing her nose to the Gods of fortune and using the wrong foot to enter the top.

Callie had resumed her position at the side of the tent and watched as Arizona entered the ring. The aerialist waved around to the audience before swiftly scaling the rope held steady by her ground man. She unhooked the trapeze and launched herself from the platform into her routine. Callie watched as Arizona went through the motions of her act, staging what seemed to Callie a solid if somewhat underwhelming performance. She frowned in confusion, this type of act wasn't what she would expect from someone so far up the bill and more importantly Callie didn't want to follow a performance that, if the afternoon's audience reaction was anything to go with, failed to set the crowd a light. She slipped out of the tent and walked round to the pad area.

Karev was standing in the pad area sneaking a look into the crowd while Arizona performed when he felt someone stand behind him "Is her performance always like that?" the voice behind him asked. He turned around and found himself looking at the new woman.

"Like what?" he asked, being deliberately obtuse.

"Tame" Callie replied.

Alex shrugged "Now it is" he answered rather cryptically then turned back to look into the tent.

Callie sighed in frustration "I'm only asking as I'm the one that has to go out afterwards and I need to know if I'll have to warm the audience back up" she watched hoping for a response from the clown, who was now studiously watching the routine and ignoring her. "What the hell is it with her?" she muttered softly under her breath. She jumped in surprise as the clown spun round to glare at her, his expression completely at odds with his painted face.

"She's a Flying Robbins! You know who they are, don't you?" he fumed.

Nodding slowly Callie wracked her brain for the reason the name sounded familiar "I think so"

"Well you should" Alex replied unimpressed with Callie's lack of knowledge of the circus act "They were the best…she was the best"

"So how come there's only one Robbins now and she's barely flying?" Callie asked, peering past Alex's shoulder into the ring to see Arizona move between trapeze bars.

Alex hesitated unsure whether to disclose Arizona's history, he scowled as he fought an inner battle. He was still bristling at Callie's lack of understanding and wanted to make the woman comprehend what it took to get Arizona out and onto a trapeze. "Okay you didn't hear this from me" he said "She and her brother were the flying Robbins, he fell and was killed and she's been performing like that ever since" He was about to turn back to the performance when Callie's voice stopped him.

"They performed without a safety net?"

"No" Alex shook his head "There was a screw up and the net wasn't fixed right, he landed on the net and it gave way. If he hadn't of gotten spooked and fallen they both would probably had been killed or injured when they dismounted" Neither had heard Mark encouraging the crowd's applause as Arizona's act finished a few moments before.

Callie exhaled softly "So what spooked him?"

The back flap of the tent opened and Arizona strode out into the pad area "An out of control horse" she said bitterly, she turned to glare at Alex "I thought better of you Karev" she seethed, then pushed past them both to exit the pad.


	3. Chapter 3

After the matinee had finished the performers and crew of the circus entered into the cook tent for a light dinner before the evening's performance, Arizona passed by the cooking ranges, steam tables, steam boilers and the caldrons filled with hot water slowly boiling meat of vegetables to feed everyone in the company and entered the cook tent. She swept the back of her hand over her forehead, as she immediately felt the heat inside the tent from the sun beating down on the canvas twinned with the number of people crammed inside enjoying the hot food. She scanned the seating looking for the other performers and caught Alex's eye. A sheepish expression flashed over the clown's face as his eyes met Arizona's, his face flushed from the effort of scrubbing his make up off. She watched while her food was dished up as Alex collected his half-filled plate and removed himself from the table.

"Where you going?" Cristina asked through a mouthful of food. Alex simply jerked his head towards Arizona and sloped off "What you do now funny boy?" Cristina shouted after him "What?" she asked Meredith, seeing the other woman shake her head at her "What did he do?"

"He told the new act about Timothy's accident and Arizona overheard" Meredith said quietly.

Cristina let out a long breath "He planning on doing a new act where he stuffs his foot in his mouth?"

"Mind if I sit here?"

The two women looked up "Umm" Meredith looked up at Callie who was standing with her tray and tried to look surreptitiously towards where Arizona was collecting her meal.

"Sure" Cristina replied, shooting a look at Meredith "Take a load off"

Callie set her tray down and smiled shyly at the two woman then picked up her fork and started to poke at her meal "I sort of made him tell me" she said to no one in particular. The three women started to eat in awkward silence.

Arizona turned with her tray intent on joining Meredith and Cristina following Alex's departure "Great" she muttered seeing Callie sitting at the table. She took a deep breath, strode over to the table, and sat down.

The horse trainer looked up in surprise as Arizona sat down opposite her at the dining table, she opened her mouth to speak but stopped as Arizona held up the palm of her hand. "You and I….we" she waved her hand between them "We don't speak, it's a simple rule" she lowered her eyes and concentrated on her food "Oh" she looked back up again "And you stop asking questions about me." Callie's eyes narrowed, she had been on the verge of a genuine apology firstly for interrupting her rehearsal earlier, after what Alex had told her she had a better understanding of Arizona's reaction and then for looking like she was gossiping behind her back. Those good intentions just flew right out of Callie's head with Arizona's little speech.

"I'm sorry about your brother" Callie bristled "But I wasn't here when it happened…so you can't hold me or my horses accountable for what sounds like a screw up on the riggers part more than anything." She threw her fork down onto the plate "As for speaking to you…you're fine I can't imagine we'd have anything civil to say to each other." She stood and grabbed her tray "Suddenly I have no appetite"

Cristina watched with her mouth open as Callie tossed her tray onto the pile and stormed out of the cook tent, she turned slowly back towards Arizona and quirked her eyebrows "That's two people who have lost their appetite when you appeared. You patent that and I reckon you've got something to give that weight watchers woman a run for her money"

Arizona glared at Cristina then rose from the table. Meredith called after her as she left then turned to Cristina "Jesus Cristina…your act is to put out fires with your mouth…not stoke them" she admonished.

"Would John Robinson please come to the rear entrance?"

Callie was sitting on Orpheus' back flexing her shoulders when she heard the ringmaster call short Arizona's act. The back flap was lifted as the band stuck up the number to introduce Callie to the ring. Orpheus' ears pricked in recognition at the sound of the music and he set off into the ring.

The riggers had swiftly hoisted the safety net from the centre ring and Callie immediately set off at pace around the circle, Orpheus at the front with Adonis and Apollo keeping pace behind. She held her arms out wide holding on with her thighs, then at speed performed a series of flicks down onto the ground and back up similar to the one she had to do to grab Apollo earlier in the day. She placed her hands onto Orpheus's back and flicked her legs up behind her in a donkey kick, holding her body in place before dropping back down to a sitting position. She directed Orpheus into the centre of the circle and the two other horses followed suit to wait for the applause for her entrance. As she smiled to the audience something caught her eye, glancing up she saw that Arizona was still sitting on her trapeze. Her brow furrowed in confusion before she remembered that she was in the middle of her show. She shouted a command and the horses performed a three sixty-degree spin on the spot firstly clockwise then counter clockwise. She stood up onto Orpheus' back then hopped across onto Apollo's back and gave the command to canter, the three horses set off side by side around the ring keeping their perfect formation.

Arizona sat on the bar quietly seething, not only had Sloan cut short her act again, this time the ground crew had pulled up her rigging before she had a chance to get down and clear the ring and the horse act had entered too quickly to allow her to climb down. All that Arizona had left to do was to sit tight until the end of Callie's performance. She had seen the momentary look of surprise on the equestrian's face as she had spotted her sitting up on the trapeze. Sighing Arizona got herself comfortable to wait.

Callie was standing on the back on the centre horse, she moved so that she was standing sideways, almost as if she were surfing on the back of the horse then flipped herself backwards, rotating her legs over her head and landed on the horse on the outside of the formation. Arizona's eyes widened, she was impressed by the act as she watched Callie do a hand flip on the centre horse and land on the back of the horse that she had ridden in. The crowd cheered and applauded, Arizona twisted her body to look down into the audience. They were sitting forward in their seats; she felt a pang of jealousy at the ease with which Callie had them invested in her act. It had been a long time since she had felt the electricity that came off an audience who were holding their breaths with every trick, their muscles tensing as they almost performed with you as they sat on their seats gripping their loved ones hands. She felt something on her cheek and released the rope to wipe it; she was stunned when she realized that it was a tear.

Callie completed her act with the horses facing the audience, She sat upon the centre horse as the three stallions dropped down onto one knee, lowered their front halves slowly to the ground then fell to the side until Callie was left standing amongst her three prone horses. The applause rang out around the tent, Callie smiled, and waved before yelling a command, immediately the three horses rose back up onto their feet, their dark coats now marred with the sawdust from the ring. They started to gallop around the outside of the circle with Callie in the centre until she shouted another command and they broke the pattern to run across the ring, as the first horse drew near Callie grabbed the harness and swung herself up and rode out of the back flap and into the paddock area where Seth was waiting. She swung her leg over the head of the horse, slipped quickly to the ground and headed back towards the flap to make sure that Arizona was now getting down. The tent was dark and the spotlight was on Mark as he stood in the centre of the ring introducing Addison but Callie could see a figure lower themselves down the rope that hung beside the trapeze platform. Mark walked out into the paddock and into the male dressing area, he jumped in surprise when he was accosted by Callie "Do not ever do that again," she yelled.

"What?" he asked confused "You can't be in here" he added, pushing gently at Callie to remove her from the curtained off area.

"You wait until the ring is cleared before you give the cue for my music to start up, my horses will start as soon as they hear that music," she said prodding her finger into the tall man's chest.

"The ring was clear" he insisted.

"The hell it was" Callie shouted, she pointed a finger towards the ring "Arizona was still up there"

Mark looked confused and then horrified that he'd messed up "Oh God"

Arizona opened the flap into the dressing area "What the hell Mark?" she yelled.

"You both can't be in _here" _Mark whined "Get out of the men's dressing area and stop shouting at me" he huffed "I'm sorry Arizona, I messed up it won't happen again" he apologised as he ushered both women back out towards the pad area.

"Damn right it won't" Callie said "From now on; you put the clowns on between me and her to make sure she's cleared the ring before I go in" she raged.

Mark held his hands up in surrender "I am sorry…to both of you…now go get ready for the finale" he begged.

The two women turned to leave, their action causing them to face each other. There was a pause as they stood facing off, only inches between them before they broke eye contact and went in different directions to prepare for the finale.

Callie closed the door on the horse trailers and slipped the bolt to lock the door in place; she turned and surveyed the activity around her. The blues that she had dodged earlier in the day going into the top were now being carried out and stacked for transport. She pulled her arms around herself as the heat from the day had left with the sunset and there was now a cool breeze taking the temperature even lower. She started to walk slowly towards the cook tent to grab supper before retiring when a scruffy dog halted her path. The dog cocked its head to the side as if sizing her up before it walked forward and dropped a worn tennis ball at her feet "You want to play?" Callie asked smiling as she bent down to retrieve the ball. She tossed it across an open area of ground and the dog bounded after it, lowered its muzzle to the ground to collect the ball as its legs skidded to a halt then kicked out propelling itself back towards Callie with its prize held firmly in its jaws. She laughed as the ball was plopped back at her feet again and bent to pick it up.

"You'll be here all night doing that"

Her toss faltered as the voice behind her startled her, causing the ball to go a shorter distance than her first attempt. "I thought we weren't to speak" she replied, turning her attention back to the dog and picking the returned ball up again to throw it.

Arizona scuffed her sneaker against the dusty ground "About that" she bit at her bottom lip, she kept her head down but dragged her eyes up towards Callie. The other woman's stance had tensed noticeably since Arizona had spoken "I'm sorry" Arizona said quietly.

Callie turned with a look of surprise on her face; she had not expected to hear those words coming from aerialist. She moved her mouth as her mind whirred with a thousand things she wanted to say eventually the words that came out where the only ones that she thought that mattered right now "I am too" Arizona lifted her head and gave a soft smile, her dimples making a hesitant appearance "So who does this guy belong to?" Callie asked tossing the ball again.

Thankful for the change in subject Arizona smile widened "You now" she gave a half laugh at the look of shock on Callie's face "He belongs to everyone…he was a stray in one of the town's we visited about a year ago. We started to feed him scraps and he stayed" she knelt down and started to stroke the dog, who immediately fell onto his back and exposed his tummy for a rub "He decides where he sleeps, if you hear pawing at your door it'll be Harry here looking for a bed for the night"

"Harry?"

"As in Houdini" Arizona stood back up and brushed the dust from her knee. She looked as if she was going to say something else then changed her mind "Goodnight" she said almost inaudibly as she turned to leave.

"Good night" Callie replied then watched as Arizona climbed into her wagon. She turned her attention back to the dog now sitting at her feet patiently waiting for her to resume play "Well at least she didn't shout at me this time" Callie said tossing the ball and smiling as Henry hared after it.


	4. Chapter 4

The next couple of days saw Callie fall into the routine of her new company as they traveled from town to town. She had little interaction with Arizona during that time, however there had been some small in roads made and they would now sit at the performers table at the same time, although never speaking directly they would engage in the group conversations. The timing of their routines never posed a problem again as Mark ensured that the ring was completely clear before signaling for Callie's music.

It was getting late and the night's sky held a milky quality as dusk settled on the circus, Arizona swept the tents entrance out of the way and held it back to allow the others to exit. The group of performers left the cook tent to walk back towards their individual wagons to bed down for the night. There was some relief that they were currently on a dukie run where they were staying in their location for more than one night, meaning there was no rush to dismantle the lot and haul it overnight. A long run in a town usually prompted an element of levity in the circus folk, it gave then an opportunity to breath and relax without the cloud of traveling hovering other them. As they walked across the lot, they noticed a large crowd gathered around Mark's wagon. A soft light illuminated the faces of the people peering in the windows; shadows flickered over their faces as they strained to see inside. "What's going on over there?" Callie asked, wondering whether this was a regular occurrence. Receiving no response from the others, she simply followed their lead to go investigate. As they drew close they heard gasps coming from inside the wagon and murmurs of protest outside as people jostled for position.

"Is Mark shaving his back again?" Cristina asked in a loud voice, gaining a range of sniggers and hoots of laughter in response.

"He's got a television set" one of the roustabouts replied excitedly before he turned back to strain his neck to see through the window.

"Its colour" another one said in awe.

"What?" Cristina said incredulously "Let me see" she positioned her elbows out and burrowed her way through the crowd who murmured their disproval but made no attempt to stop her progress into the wagon, leaving the others standing looking at each other in confusion.

"Great!" Alex grunted.

"What's your problem with television?" Arizona asked nudging Alex gently.

"My problem?….my _problem_ is that they're our problem, people would rather watch them then come see us"

"They said that when talking films first started Alex…and we're still here," Callie said, going onto her tiptoes to try to sneak a look, enthralled at the idea having only seen them in shop windows before.

"Barely" Alex huffed and walked away towards his wagon. Meredith, Lexie, Arizona, and Callie watched him go until their attention was drawn back to the wagon by Cristina's voice. The petite fire-eater was hanging out of the window much to the annoyance of those standing trying to see through.

"There's something called Batman on in here," she yelled before she ducked her head back in, seconds later she appeared again, "Apparently he's a man who is a bat" she informed them, her tone quite serious, a second later and she had disappeared back into the wagon.

"I'm pretty sure my grandparents knew a man who was a bat" Meredith mused.

Lexie nodded "He wasn't really a bat" she clarified seeing Callie and Arizona's faces "They stuck the wings on"

"Good to know" Callie said emotionless, her eyes wide with incredulity. There was a quiet snort of laughter at her side from Arizona, who was twisting her mouth into bizarre shapes to stop from laughing aloud.

Arizona coughed to clear her throat and managed a serious tone "Do you think we should be worried?" The three other women looked amongst themselves and shrugged none were sure what impact the dawn on television and every house being filled with entertainment on demand would have on their particular type of entertainment. Eventually Callie broke the silence and for the first time since their apology, she spoke directly to Arizona.

"About Batman?" she asked, her eyes twinkling with humour "Naaaah"

"It's our acts we need to refresh them" Alex said passionately as the performers sleepily ate their breakfast "I was thinking about it last night" he poked his fork in the air "If we want to compete with television, movies, rock and roll music and long haired weirdos from England we have to come up with more interesting acts"

"I kind of like the Beatles" Arizona said sipping her coffee; her eyes visible over the top of her cup were filled with mirth. If there was one thing that the female performer enjoyed more than anything it was goading Alex until his face turned puce and it looked like it was about to pop off his head.

"Oooh I like the little one….George…or is it Ringo" Addison said thoughfully, twisting a strand of hair as she tried to work out which Beatle she was talking about.

Alex huffed "We're not talking about the Beatles….we're talking about how we'll all be out of a job if we don't get bums on seats"

"Not again Alex" Meredith sighed, "We've been having this same conversation for weeks now"

"Because it's getting worse," he replied frustrated that no one else seemed bothered by the decline in ticket sales. Alex would never actually count the audience when he was out performing, like the others in the circus he was a stickler for superstitious tradition, but he did get to the top when the house lights were up unlike many of the performers who entered and left under a spotlight "And I'm the only one who is bothered"

"Maybe people are fed up of clowns" Cristina shrugged "All the fake smiles and falling over"

"Sounds like you when your drunk" Miranda said under her breath, only Arizona sitting next to her heard and promptly started to choke on a piece of bacon.

"There is more to being a clown than smiling and falling," Alex said, taking the bait that Cristina had tossed.

Watching Arizona suspiciously as the blonde woman cleared her throat of obstruction Cristina continued, "Clowning is easy" she returned her attention to Alex "Any idiot can be a clown….fire eating…now that's a skill" Alex frowned looking amongst the woman as they all nodded their approval of Cristina's statement.

"Hmm mmm" Bailey hummed "Putting your head inside a lion's mouth….that there is a skill also" she said nodding her head.

Addison pulled her top lip into her mouth before adding her piece "Walking the wire" she added, her tone serious "That is also a skill…..years of training"

"Being a clown is a skill!" Alex almost yelled.

"Flying through the air on a trapeze" Arizona interjected to add her fuel to the flames that were now practically visible on Alex's face "Flying is a skill"

Alex scowled "Flying is just falling gracefully, it's just gravity" he fumed. Before Arizona could respond, Callie leaned forward.

"Backflips on a horse…Skill!" she pronounced.

Cristina put her elbows onto the table and rested her chin on her closed fists "Anybody can be a clown….but we" she pointed at the assembled women "We are artists"

"I'm an artist…and if you think that anyone can be a clown…prove it" Alex fired back.

"Prove what?" Cristina shrugged "That I'm funnier that you?"

"You're not funnier than me" Alex said dismissively, under normal circumstances self preservation would have kicked in with Alex by now and he would have realized that he was being made fun of, however this time he was so riled that he didn't care "Women aren't funny" he announced as if throwing down the winning argument.

There was an intake of breath by the women at the table, stunned by Alex's proclamation. Eager to diffuse the situation since she had effectively started it Arizona piped up "I'm funny"

"Okay so we have one taker," Alex said nodding.

A look of confusion spread over Arizona's face "What do you mean one taker?" she asked cautiously.

"Two days time…you are going to go out into that ring and be a clown….show us how funny you are…then we'll see who's right" Alex stated, a smug smile on his face. He crossed his arms across his chest as Arizona let out a nervous laugh.

"I….I can't be a clown Alex…I'm performing in the show" she looked around the other women who seemed to now be finding their plates interesting. Her eyes narrowed as her so-called friends and colleagues left her twisting in the breeze.

"You don't do it, then you forfeit and I'm right," Alex said, his smile spreading into a wide grin as he thought he had Arizona on the ropes.

Callie raised her eyes and saw everyone else studiously avoiding Arizona's gaze. As she caught Arizona's eye she saw the small plea for help in the wide blue eyes and felt a desire to support the woman despite their somewhat difficult relationship. "I'll do it with you" the words were out of Callie's mouth before she could censor them. The other women at the table lifted their heads up quickly in surprise. Alex turned to look at Callie "I'll do it as well," she said with slightly more confidence.

Alex let out a laugh "This is going to be fun," he said getting up from the table to clear his dishes.

"You looked like you wanted help," Callie said shrugging towards Arizona who was looking at her with her mouth wide open.

"I did!" Arizona said frowning "To get out of it…not to become Laurel and freakin Hardy!"

Cristina looked between the two women, who were staring at each other "Which one of you is going to be the stupid one?" she asked popping a piece of fruit in her mouth.

"She is" both women answered simultaneously, their fingers pointed at the other.

The air was refreshingly cool inside the tent, the light falling in waves across the ring through the white sections of the striped canvas. Arizona stood in the deserted centre ring in the big top waiting on Callie for their first rehearsal of their new '_act'_. Usually Arizona was careful to avoid spending time in the ring when not performing, and even when she was, she spent little time standing in the ring as it brought back too many painful memories. She walked around the ring puffing up her cheeks and blowing air softly out as she tried to control her heart rate, she stopped and scuffed the toe of her plimsole against the carefully groomed sawdust in the ring; suddenly the aerialist was no longer in a deserted ring. Her ears were ringing as the band increased their volume, playing "Stars and Stripes Forever" the song used by the circus to divert attention from an accident or emergency, the music was getting louder and louder in an attempt to drown out the screams coming from somewhere in the ring. Arizona stood looking down at her brother's broken body, his neck twisted at an impossible angle. His blue eyes staring out unseeing, it was only when a strong hand clamped around her mouth that Arizona realized the screams that the band were trying to disguise originated from her. An arm gripped around her waist lifting her as she fought wildly with her heels and elbows to be free to go to her brother. She jumped as a hand touched her shoulder and she found herself back in the empty tent looking into concerned brown eyes.

"I said your name a couple of times" Callie apologised.

"Sorry, I was miles away" Arizona replied trying to hide the emotions that were bubbling under the surface. She sat down on the edge of ring and concentrated on her breathing trying to bring all of her thoughts back to the here and now.

Callie moved out of the way to reveal a nervous looking Seth "I hope you don't mind but I called in help." Seth held up a hand in greeting, it had taken some persuading on Callie's part for Seth to agree. Firstly, he was still nervous around Arizona following their first meeting and her impetuous at best relationship with Callie and secondly he was not convinced by either his or the women's ability to pull this off.

The trapeze artist held up an apologetic hand and smiled "Hi Seth, thank you" His smile grew slightly at her words and he looked at Callie in delight, rolling his eyes as she signed 'I told you she's not so scary close up'

"What did you say to him?" Arizona asked intrigued by the language the two shared.

"Just that we're going to kick Karev's ass with our act" Callie lied smoothly. She pulled Arizona to her feet and looked expectantly at Seth.

Two hours later and Meredith slipped into the dark seating beside Cristina who was tossing popcorn into her mouth as she watched the two women and an increasingly exasperated Seth work their way through ideas for the routine. "How are they getting on?" Meredith asked not taking her eyes off the scene below.

Cristina raised an eyebrow "Well we're going to have apologise to big foot, as this…this is not funny" she shook her head her eyes still critically scrutinizing the two women's movements as they attempted a slapstick routine.

"Really…they're not funny at all?" Meredith asked her tone laced with concern that Alex might win the bet.

Cristina turned to look at Meredith, her face emotionless "As funny as a heart attack" she said returning her gaze to the ring, just as Arizona mistimed a swipe at Callie and landed a firm right hook in her face. "Spoke to soon" Cristina said brightening up "That was hilarious." She put her popcorn between her knees and started to applaud wildly.

Arizona glared up into the dark where she could hear Cristina whooping then turned her attention back to Callie who was sitting on her backside in the ring her hand clutching her eye "Oh God Oh God…I am so sorry" Arizona muttered lifting Callie's hand away from her face.

"Is it bad?" Callie asked, squinting out of her good eye towards Arizona.

The blonde woman assessed the eye that was already starting to swell shut "Nooo, you're good" she lied. her facial expression not mirroring her tone in a convincing manner.

Callie glanced over to Seth who quickly signed, "She's not so scary huh? you've got a black eye…no show today"

She sighed and tried to get to her feet. "We should probably get ice on that," Arizona said hauling Callie up and helping her from the ring "I am so sorry," she repeated continually until they were out of the big top.

Cristina turned to Meredith and offered her some popcorn "If they did that every night, I'd pay to watch it"

"I am really sorry," Arizona said for umpteenth time. She lifted the ice pack from Callie's eye, upon seeing the myriad of colours on the woman's swollen and closed eye she hastily returned it.

Callie winced as the cold was pressed against her throbbing flesh again "You keep saying that, it's okay really…it was an accident"

Arizona was about to apologise again when Derek's voice came booming as he strode over "THIS ENDS NOW!" he looked between Arizona sitting on one of the props holding a towel stuffed with ice against Callie's face and Callie sitting on the ground her back and head propped against a painted wooden block. "You!" he pointed at Arizona "Will get over the fact that she's here, we need her she's on the bill, and she's staying and you" he directed his anger towards Callie. "Will forgive her for being an arrogant know all who is stubborn as a mule and both of you." he waved his finger between them "Both of you will kiss and make up and for the love of God let us get on with running a circus." He turned and took one-step to leave before spinning back on his heel "And you're both fined twenty dollars for fighting" he swept round leaving both women sitting with open mouths.

The first to break the silence was Arizona who simply breathed quietly "Arrogant?"

Callie looked up with her good eye "Maybe a little" she winced as Arizona lifted the cold compress from her eye, annoyance apparent on the blonde's face "Please don't hit me again" Callie begged, thrusting out her bottom lip. Arizona started to laugh; emitting a sound that only a short while ago Callie would never have considered the possibility that she would be the cause of.

"I can't afford to hit you again, had I known the last one was going to cost me twenty bucks I'd of hit you harder"

"Had I know it was going to cost me, I'd of hit you back!" Callie countered.

"They're starting to boo" the chief announced.

Derek poked his head into the tent for confirmation; he scanned the faces of the section of audience he could see. Their expressions ranged from indifference to down right annoyance, he bit his lip in disappointment before signaling to get Mark's attention. The ringmaster looked up to see Derek slashing his hand across his neck. Mark's shoulders slumped and he looked up towards the trapeze act willing Arizona to do something, anything that would mean he didn't have to cut her short again. Seeing that she was staying on the static trapeze and giving no signal that she was about to fly he reluctantly picked up the megaphone to make the now familiar announcement during Arizona's routine "Would John Robinson come to the rear entrance"

Callie stood watching Arizona's performance from the side, her injury meant that it was too dangerous for her to attempt her act with her vision impaired in any way. She looked across to where Derek and the Chief were deep in conversation and edged closer to see whether she could pick up any snippets of their discussion.

"I know you feel a responsibility" the tall black man said, his hand resting kindly on Derek's shoulder "But this can't go on...we can't go on carrying her"

"What do you want me to do…cut her loose" the blue-eyed man replied, "I can't do that, she's one of us" he looked back into the top to where Arizona was now deftly rolling off of the safety netting, a look of disappointment set on her features.

"It's your circus Derek; you know what you need to do"

The horse rider maneuvered herself away from the two men her mind churning over the conversation she had just heard. When she had interrupted Arizona from her thoughts earlier in the day Callie was sure that Arizona was thinking about her brother, she had been almost shivering as she had stood with her eyes transfixed on the sawdust seeing things no longer there. For reasons that Callie could not comprehend she felt protective towards the blonde woman despite their initial differences. The conversation she had overheard troubled her.

"You want me to hold this?" Arizona asked Seth, taking hold of the large round disc he held in his hand. Seth nodded and signaled for Callie to take hold as well. When both women held the disc, he started to speak quickly with his hands, Callie struggling to keep up with translating for Arizona.

"This will be painted like a coin," Callie said lifting the disc slightly. "It will be placed in the ring and we will both go for it," she continued watching Seth closely "He says that we need to play to our strengths so we'll do a routine where we're squabbling over the coin and use our gymnastic ability to make our act stand out."

Seth folded his hands across hi chest and nodded proudly as if he had solved all of the problems following yesterday's disastrous attempt at creating an act.

The three of them worked out a simple routine where they fought for the coin, incorporating some of the moves Seth had taught them yesterday, neither losing concentration for a second in case of another accident. Callie moved the disc in a circle to try to weaken Arizona's grasp and looked on in shock as the woman intuitively performed a quick forward flip as if Callie's movement had created momentum in her. Seth clapped his hands together in delight signaling to Callie to do it again. She repeated the movement and a grinning Arizona repeated the flip, her hand staying on the coin as she did it. Seth indicated that Arizona should do it back and Callie chuckled and shook her head before she repeated the same flip on Arizona's command.

During the next hour, the three of them practiced the routine repetitively, building on previous ideas and tweaking their timing to perfection, until the two women were glistening with sweat. They slumped down onto the floor of the ring in exhaustion. Seth stood over them and waited until Callie looked up; when he had her attention, he motioned with his fingers then turned to leave. "Where's he going…are we done?" Arizona asked watching Seth leave them.

"He has to go feed the horses" Callie replied "And we have to go sort out our costumes" she pulled herself up then held out her hand to pull Arizona up.

"Oh God, I hadn't even thought of that" Arizona admitted allowing Callie to haul her to her feet.

They rummaged through a wicker chest full of old forgotten pieces of costume, each woman worked in silence to create their clown persona, the quiet was punctuated every now and again as one would pull an item from the chest and exclaim in delight or amusement. Finally, they closed the chest and sat down on the top of it to survey the floor around them strewn with the items they had chosen.

Arizona slipped off the chest and picked up the red and white stripped top she had selected. Used to undressing in front of other performers she stripped off her leotard quickly and pulled the top over hear head. Callie quickly averted her eyes from the perfect breasts directly at her eye level, no prude herself Callie was used to seeing naked women change, if everyone worried about getting undressed in front of others during show time, the circus would never run smoothly. However seeing Arizona's naked torso left her discombobulated, she squirmed nervously on the basket.

"How do I look?" Arizona asked pulling the top down into place, the stripes on the tight material accentuated the curves of her breasts.

"Good" Callie replied, her voice catching. She coughed to clear her through "Good" she repeated managing more control over her vocal qualities.

Arizona grinned then pulled the trousers she had selected from the pile on the floor "Aren't you going to try yours on?" She asked.

Callie nodded dumbly, hopped off the chest, and lifted her choice of costume. She turned her back to Arizona and pulled off her T-shirt .Arizona watched from the corner of her eye as Callie undressed, she had seen the woman in her show leotards, which highlighted her figure to stupid proportions, but now seeing the smooth caramel skin of Callie's back up close. Arizona felt inexplicably drawn to it; she noted a scar running down the length of Callie's spine. As if powered by some unknown part of her brain Arizona's hand lifted, her fingers flexing in their desire to trace the line of the scar. As quickly as it had appeared Callie's skin was covered again as, she slipped on a white shirt with an oversized collar. She turned and raised her eyebrows at a startled looking Arizona "I was thinking this with this" she held up a giant red tie against the white shirt "What do you think?"

Arizona smiled "Yeah that would work" she looked back down at the yellow checked trousers she had lifted and tried to ignore the heat that she could feel in her cheeks. She quickly pulled the trousers on and pulled the red suspenders over her shoulders to keep the large trousers in place, she could feel a breeze dancing around her exposed ankles as the trousers fell short of the required length "Tada" she said doing a small spin to show Callie her outfit.

Callie finished tying her tie in place and looked her up and down "If that doesn't get a laugh I don't know what will," she said laughing, pulling on her own black pants with colourful patches sewn sporadically into the material. She tucked the white shirt into the waistband of the trousers, lifted a small black bowler hat and performed a bow towards Arizona "Do I look swell?" she asked standing straight again.

"You do" Arizona replied, her tone more serious than she intended "So…make up" she added swiftly to hide her awkwardness. She moved across the small area to where a mirror was propped up against the temporary wall, a small stool sat in front of it beside a suitcase filled with various bits of stage makeup. Arizona sat down on the stool and peered into the suitcase "What are we thinking, sad or happy face?" she asked pulling her face to grotesque versions of the emotions.

Callie looked at her thoughtfully her head cocked to the side "Happy for you I think" she said with a soft smile. She walked over and looked into the suitcase selecting out a black pencil she took Arizona's chin in her hand and made the woman look up at her.

"What are you doing?" Arizona asked confused.

"Your make up…hold still" Callie answered, starting to draw black lines onto Arizona's face to outline the shape of the clowns face "I think we'll go traditional Auguste with your make up" Callie said absently while drawing on Arizona's face.

"You know a lot about clowns for a horse rider," Arizona murmured not wanting to move her face to much and disturb Callie's drawing.

Callie shrugged "Seth's family were all clowns, they were like my family" she stopped drawing and picked up a tub with white paint and dabbed some onto her fingers then started to fill in the areas she had drawn. Any further questions Arizona had, disappeared from her brain as she watched the intense look of concentration on Callie's face while she worked; the blonde woman could feel her heart pounding in her chest with every gentle stroke of Callie's fingertips as she applied the make up. Callie stood back to assess her work wiping the paint from her fingers, she kneeled in front of Arizona and chewed on the side of her mouth as she used a cotton swab to gently remove the white paint from Arizona's bottom lip. She brushed the bud across, then unhappy with its success she wet her thumb with some water and gently swept her thumb across Arizona's lip. She felt a flush of arousal flood her senses as Arizona parted her lips and the tip of her thumb gathered moisture from Arizona's mouth. She looked up sure that Arizona could see the reaction her body had had to the touch and was surprised at the intensity of the stare from the blonde woman. She dropped her hand and gave a cough to hide her embarrassment at the awakening her body had felt, then turned and selected flesh tone paint from the suitcase "You use this for the rest of your face" she said holding the tub out behind her, too self conscious to turn around and look at Arizona again.

The trapeze artist felt her pulse pounding in her ears as she reached out for the tub and took it from Callie's outstretched hand "Thanks" she murmured, still confused at the powerful feelings the other woman's innocent touch had evoked.

They completed their makeup in silence neither sure what to say to the other. Callie pulled on a tattered tailcoat and placed her bowler hat onto her head, she was checking her reflection in the mirror when Seth entered into the dressing area. He looked between the two women sensing the awkward atmosphere that had descended between them, neither willing to meet the others gaze. He signed to Callie, "What did you do?"

"Nothing" Callie signed back.

Arizona looked between them unsure what was being said "So how do we look Seth?" she asked moving her head into his eye line.

He smiled still glancing suspiciously over towards Callie "Like a couple of clowns" he said aloud so that Arizona did not need Callie to translate. The blonde woman gave a satisfied nod "But you're missing something" he added. Arizona's smile froze in place as she pondered what she had overlooked Seth walked over to look in the box and rummaged around until he found what he was looking for; finally, he pulled his hand out holding a small red nose aloft. He turned and squeezed it onto Arizona's nose "Now you're perfect" he said.

"I need to pee" Callie said dancing up and down.

"No you don't…you just think you do" Arizona said out of the side of her mouth. She smirked as the taller woman beside her nervously jiggled her limbs trying to release the tension in them. She cast a quick glance towards Callie, seeing the other woman puff her cheeks out and exhale, her thoughtful look giving more credence to the frown painted onto her skin. The swelling around her eye had almost gone and the impressive multitude of colours that marked the injured area was thankfully disguised by thick white paint. Arizona furrowed her brow and swallowed down her own nerves, her face felt constrained behind the clown makeup, her skin tight, she fully expected it to crack and crumble each time she moved any part of her face. She opened her mouth wide as if to yawn and raised each eyebrow in turn testing her makeup, finishing with a waggle of her nose to test the red bulbous nose secured there.

"Will you stop doing that, your face won't fall off" Callie said, her eyes not leaving the entrance in front of her. Arizona gave a small chagrined sniff, hooked her fingers into her suspenders, and rocked on the balls of her feet.

They were standing in the pad area waiting on Mark announcing them. The area was filled with acts that normally wouldn't be anywhere near the tent during the first half of the bill, however no one on the lot was going to miss the premiere performance of Bits and Bobs as they had decided to call themselves. Seth paced behind them like an expectant father, his young eyes full of concern as his hands fretted. Most people would assume that he was fidgeting as his fingers flexed rapidly as he walked back and forth. However if you looked closer you would see a pattern in his movements as Seth was in fact praying, for Seth clowning was a serious business and for all the confidence he had tried to instill in his two prodigy's, he wasn't sure that this wasn't about to be a disaster.

They heard Mark say their clown names and with a gentle shove in the back from Seth, they entered the ring, right feet first. Both immediately felt out of their depth in the ring, neither able to rely on their usual performance fallbacks when nervous to get them through, all they had was each other and their hastily prepared routine.

"Is that who I think that is?" Derek asked the Chief as he leaned forward to get a better look at the two clowns that were now in the centre of the ring, highlighted by spotlights as a third light centered on the large fake coin on the floor of the ring. "You have got to be kidding me!" he shook his head. "I told them to kiss and make up, not become a God dammed comedy act"

Callie and Arizona had now reached the coin and were going through their practiced routine of fighting over the coin, each pulling and pushing trying to free it from the others grasp. Callie moved the coin in a circle and Arizona flipped as they rehearsed. The crowd laughed and Arizona gave a relieved smirk at the response. She then moved the coin and Callie flipped, her bowler hat falling onto the ground. She looked at Arizona then looked at down at her hat and bent down to pick it up, quickly kicking it away with her foot as she reached for it. She stood back up as the crowd laughed at the trick. Callie looked at Arizona then gave an exaggerated shrug. She moved them across the ring, still holding onto the coin and bent again to pick up the hat repeating her earlier trick. The crowd laughed louder, their laughter increasing each time she repeated it. Finally, she gave a pleading look towards Arizona and pointed towards the hat. Arizona gave a look of surprise, she pointed between herself and the hat and frowned wildly as Callie nodded, her head bobbing up and down to overstate for the audience, who were now laughing in between gags. Arizona shook her head emphatically and crossed one arm over while keeping a tight grip on the coin. Callie turned to the audience for help as she pleaded again. Arizona looked around the dark audience area listening to them shouting that she should help, then with a big sigh she released the coin to pick up Callie's hat. Seizing the moment Callie gripped the coin above her head with both hands and promptly set off around the ring at a run for the next stage of their act.

"What a crock" Alex growled.

"You're just pissed cause they're getting a laugh" Cristina replied a relieved smile on her face

"And you're losing" Addison added.

Alex sulked, he would never admit it-but he was jealous, his act had taken time to perfect, however both women knew how to work an audience with their own acts and were applying every trick they knew to engage the audience. Seeing and hearing enough Alex made a decision "Yeah…let's see how good they are at improvising" he said, putting his police officer's hat onto his head and pulling out an oversized night stick, he placed a whistle between his lips and gave a loud shrill blast.

"You're an asshole" Cristina whispered loudly after him as he set off into the ring.

Callie and Arizona froze at the sound they were not expecting. Startled blue eyes met equally surprised brown ones as a spotlight found the source of the noise. Alex entered the ring and stood waving his nightstick. Immediately the two women communicated with their eyes and subtle jerks of their heads and both set off in different directions out of the ring and into the audience. Alex unable to chase them both started out after Arizona as she clambered over laughing families who were now part of the act. The shanty's struggled to keep the spotlight on the three performers and eventually gave up and signaled for the house lights to be raised. While Alex continued to chase after an incredibly agile Arizona, Callie sat in amongst the audience and enjoyed the show, even sharing their popcorn until Alex spotted her sitting across the other side of the ring. Realising she was spotted; she stood up and started to climb up the seats gently moving people out of her way until she reached the top of the grandstand. She edged her way along the row, jumping as she neared a particularly prudish looking woman, as if the woman had groped her. The crown laughed loudly and Arizona stood in the ring giggling and shaking her head at Callie's antics. As Alex climbed up the aisle towards her, Callie sped back down the opposite aisle running at full speed until she reached the ring again. Out of breath she stood in the centre with Arizona "I'm going to fucking kill him" she muttered out of the side of her mouth towards the smaller woman, who was also breathing heavily.

"Get in line" Arizona replied. They watched as Alex came back down the aisle towards the ring. Arizona looked up and saw her trapeze rope, fixed to the top of the king pole that held up the highest peak of the canvas, the end of rope was twisted round the pole, where it would sit until her act in the second half. She grabbed the rope and unwound it from the pole.

"What are you doing?" Callie hissed, noticing the Alex had slowed his descent confused as to what Arizona was about to do.

Arizona loosened the rope further from its tether "What I do best" she grinned.

"Have you lost your mind?" Callie said giving a tug at Arizona's suspenders, the audience laughing at what they thought was part of the act.

Arizona took a tight grip of the rope and ran hard around the pole building up momentum, Callie watched still gripping the coin in her hand as Arizona ran past her, she felt the air leave her lungs joining in with the audiences reaction as Arizona lifted her feet off the ground and started the climb the now airborne rope. Arizona fixed one hand above her head and the other beside her knees and lifted her body away from the rope until she was horizontal against the rope, as it rotated around the king pole.

Derek watched from the side patting the chief's arm "Do you see that?" he asked.

"What?" The chief replied confused, he squinted towards the ring hoping to glimpse what the boss was seeing.

"That" Derek said grinning as Arizona's swing took her around again and he caught another glimpse of her face.

Arizona felt the familiar rush of air against her face and body as she flew, however this time she was not wearing sequins and a leotard or a fake smile on her face. It was exhilarating to fly again with no expectation, or reputation hovering over her feeling like it was aiding gravity in pushing her down. Her smile was wide and her dimples deep underneath her white makeup. Her blue eyes glistened with tears partly caused by the air in her face, but mostly caused by the invigorating feeling of being herself again. She changed her grip and lifted her legs, wrapped the rope around one leg securing herself in place, and then released her grip of the rope. She allowed her body fall upside down, hearing more gasps and applause from the audience.

Callie stood transfixed, watching as Arizona whirled above her head, the sound of the band, the audience's cheers and clapping disappeared from Callie's consciousness, she was focused solely on the expression of peace that had settled on Arizona's face as she spun around.

Arizona saw that her rotation would bring her within striking distance of Callie, as she drew close; she reached down and snatched the coin from Callie's hands. The audience roared with laughter and applauded her antics. Arizona waved taking the applause not paying attention to the fact she was nearing Callie again. As she swung round again, Callie grabbed Arizona's free hand, intent on halting the swing. Derek rolled his eyes as two of his big acts spun around the ring. Eager to call a halt before one or both got hurt he tried to get the shanty's attention to kill the lights. Brown eyes connected with blue as the rope pulled them both around. Callie's heels dragged along in the dust as she dug them until finally, she was able to slow them to a stop, unable to draw her eyes away from the tear glistened blue eyes, she was barely aware of a loud whistle blast and Alex removing the coin from Arizona's hand before the tent was plunged into darkness.

Their breathing was heavy and Callie could make out a slight flush on Arizona's cheeks beneath the heavy make up. Her brain fought to find the words to describe to Arizona how amazing she had looked flying. The blonde woman eventually broke into Callie's thoughts with a small cough "Um Callie" she said, her voice sounding nasally due to her current upside down position and the fake nose still fixed on her own.

"Huh?" Callie replied, still slightly dumfounded by the emotion that felt as though it had lodged in her throat.

"You can let me go now"

Callie looked at her hand in surprise "Sorry" she quickly released it "Do you need…" Arizona pulled herself up effortlessly and disentangled her leg from the rope and dropped lightly onto the ground beside Callie "Any help" Callie finished uselessly.

The crowd cheered and clapped, they took their place in the centre of the ring as the lights were raised to allow them to take a bow. The applause went on so long that the lights had to be dimmed and raised three times before they were allowed to make their escape. Finally, the spotlight returned to Mark for him to introduce the interval. In the dark an exuberant Arizona, still filled with the adrenaline from her performance, grabbed Callie's hand, and dragged her back out towards the pad area, where the rest of the performers and crew were waiting to congratulate them. As they accepted the pats on the back and Alex's reluctant apology and praise, neither woman realised they had not released the others hand.


End file.
